Tough Battles
Now there are a few tough battles in the game that should be mentioned here. These are all optional fights (except for one) in the story of the game and all take place after beating the game once. They are as follows: 8th battle against Cheren, 6th Battle against Bianca, Battle against Game Freak designer Morimoto, battle against Sinnoh Champion Cynthia, and battle against Champion Alder. I'll start with the Rivals: Cheren and Bianca. Anyway, to fight Bianca, all you have to do is beat the game twice. Make sure you beat Alder and are recorded in the Hall of Fame. Just go back to Nuvema Town and into Prof Juniper's lab. Speak with Bianca on the weekend and she will challenge you. (JUST A NOTE: All of her Pokemon know return, so Ghost types are effective for most of this battle, however don't start with one.) Lead off with a fighting type that's not weak to Ice Electric or Water, as she begins with her Stoutland. It's level 63 and knows Return (normal), Ice Fang (ice), Surf (water), and Wild Charge (electric). Knock it out and she will send in her next Pokemon, probably her SimiMonkey. She uses the evolved form of whatever she's been using the whole game, and it will be Super Effective on your starter. It will be level 63 and will know Return (normal), Rock Slide (rock), Brick Break (fighting, and then a move based on its type. Surf for Simipour, Flamethrower for Simisear, and Energy Ball for Simisage. Next up is Musharna. It's also level 63, and is not the typical All-Around Musharna with Psychic, Flamethrower, Thunder, and Surf, but instead it knows Return (normal), Yawn (normal), Dream Eater (I think it's ghost; don't let her put you to sleep with yawn, I recommend using a Ghost type), and Psychic (psychic obviously). Next up are two new pokemon: Mienshao and Chandelure. Mienshao is level 63, with the moves Return (normal), Drain Punch (fighting), U-turn (bug), and Fake Out (dark). Chandelure is level 63 and has Return (normal), Shadow Ball (ghost), Psychic (psychic), and Overheat (fire). Finishing off will probably be her starter in it's final stage at level 65. Besides all having Return (normal), they will have completely different move sets. Just remember your starter is Super Effective on hers. Samurott has Aqua Tail (water), X-Scissor (bug) and Ariel Ace (flying). This thing can counter grass types, but not electric so use them. Serperior will have Leaf Storm (grass), Dragon Tail (dragon), and Coil (poison will raise its stats). It mainly just boosts it stats to finish you off quickly with Dragon Tail, and anything that survives with Leaf Storm. Emboar will be packing Flare Blitz (fire), Brick Break (fighting), and Wild Charge (electric). Again. This thing will counter water types, so use fast ones to get in a quick hit and then have it take the recoil damage from Wild Charge. Then bring in a Psychic type to finish it off. Just make sure not to use flying types for the same reason as water, but you can use the same strategy just as well. By the way, all of her pokemon have no held items and they're all females, so Attract can be helpful in this battle. Now for Cheren. He's just about the same, but inverted, as in being Bianca's opposite. He also uses five level 63s with a level 65 starter, but his are all male so you need a female attracter, and they all have items. Oh yeah, and none of his pokemon have Return :P go figure. Before you can fight him, you have to retrace your steps like he tells you after you beat the game. The faster way is to just fly to Nimbasa City and head onto Route 5. Talk to him and he heads for Victory Road. Now fly to the Pokemon League, heal up, go to Victory Road, and enter the mountain just East of the League. Right inside you will find him. When you talk to him, before you battle, Marshal from the Elite 4 will run up and say something that Alder told him. Anyway, if you have bug types, start with them to counter his Liepard. Besides holding the always annoying Sitrus Berry, it knows Fake Out (dark pretty much always use this first to get in a little bit of damage and make you flinch), Night Slash (dark), Shadow Claw (ghost), and Ariel Ace (flying annoying attack will pick off your bug pokemon, especially so since in can never miss. After taking it down, he sends in his SimiMonkey (holding an item to raise its power Charcoal/Mystic Water/Miracle Seed) which will be the same type as your starter. They all know Brick Break (fighting), Payback (dark I think), and Rock Slide (rock). Their other move is different, but the same as Bianca: Simisage is Energy Ball, Simisear is Flamethrower, and Simipour it Surf. Third up is Unfezant, packing a Scope Lens to raise Critical Hit ratio. It knows Air Slash (flying), Quick Attack (normal), Façade (normal) and U-turn (bug). Don't know why a Flying type needs a bug type move, but OK. Maybe he's scared of dark types. Anyway, next are his two new pokemon: Gigalith and Haxorus. Gigalith is holding the overused Leftovers, and knows Stone Edge (rock), Stealth Rock (rock), Earthquake (ground), and Giga Impact (normal [why Bianca's Stoutland doesn't know this, I don't know). Haxorus has a Dragon Gem (hah! Only one use!) and knows Outrage (dragon), Rock Slide (rock), X-scissor (bug), and Surf (water). He's only got ONE physical move on it. WHAT IS HE THINKING! HAXORUS IS A PHYSICAL DRAGON, NOT SPECIAL! THAT'S HYDREIGON MORON! Whatever. Anyway, last up is his starter with a Focus Sash (OOH those are annoying as heck), and a different moveset for each of them (remember he's super effective on your starter). Emboar has Flare Blitz (fire), Head Smash (normal), Brick Break (fighting), and Wild Charge (electric). Again, because of Wild Charge, water and flying types are useless unless they're faster and can get in a hit before taken down, but this is still helpful because of the recoil from Wild Charge. Use Psychic types. Serperior has Leaf Storm (grass), Coil (poison it just raises stats), Dragon Tail (dragon), and Leaf Blade (grass). Now this Serperior is actually decent. Because Leaf Storm lowers special attack, you can pretty much be guaranteed it will be used after Dragon Tail, just like Bianca's, but because of Leaf Blade, grass type attacks are still a threat. Samurott has Hydro Pump (water), Aqua Jet (water), Blizzard (ice), and X-siccor (bug). Grass types are out the question because of Blizzard and X-Siccor, but surprisingly you wont see Earthquake or something to counter electric types, so use them. Once you beat him, you are done with the Rivals FOREVER! Morimoto is one of the head developers of Pokemon from Game Freak, and he can be fought in the Game Freak building in Castelia City after beating the game. Beware, though, as his Pokemon are level 75 except for his Zebstrika at level 77. Just like with Cheren, start off with a bug type to counter his Liepard. It has no item (by the way all of his pokemon are Male), and knows Sucker Punch (dark I think), Night Slash (dark), Fake Out (dark), Grass Knot (Grass). The next three pokemon are the SimiMonkeys. They all know Payback (dark), Acrobatics (flying), and Crunch (dark). They also all hold the Petaya Berry, which raises SpA (special attack) in a pinch. Simisear has Flamethrower, Simipour has Surf, and Simisage has Energy Ball. Next up is Swoobat, with Psychic (psychic), Endeavor (normal out for this move, its really annoying. At least it doesn't have a Focus Sash), Airslash (flying), and Psyschock (psychic). Most of Morimoto's team can't do anything to you. Just be careful for his last pokemon, Zebstika. It knows Wild Charge (electric), Pusuit (dark), Giga Impact (normal), and Flame Charge (fire). Finally! A potent physical electric type! This thing is all physical boosts, so be careful when facing him. Fourth in the roster of tough trainers is the Champion from the Sinnoh region, Cynthia. Continue with the Post Ending adventure until you get to Undella Town. Enter Cailtin's Villa and battle. She starts off with the ever annoying Spiritomb, a SpD (special defensive) wall. It knows Sucker Punch (dark), Shadow Ball (ghost), Will-o-Wisp (don't know the type, but it burns you), and Double Team (normal). She will spam this move like CRAZY so use your never miss moves, and if you like using x items, use your xAccuracies. You might need them. After the slow arduous process of taking this thing down (which will probably use one of her Full Restores), she sends in Electross. This thing is ANNOYING, as it is an electric type with levitate, so it has no weakness, not even ground types, just like Spiritomb. It has Crunch (dark), Wild Charge (electric), Dragon Claw (dragon), and Flamethrower (fire). This thing is hard, as I said earlier. Use anything that's resistant to its moves. Beat it and she will send out Milotic. She knows Hydro Pump (water), Blizzard (ice), Bulldoze (ground), and Dragon Tail (dragon). This thing will insta-destroy your team by using Bulldoze to lower your speed and then finish you off with one of its other moves. Take it down, and she sends out her only male pokemon, Braviary. It knows Brave Bird (flying), Crush Claw (normal thing will kill you), Shadow Claw (ghost), and Retaliate (normal). Back in the second gym, you couldn't survive Retaliate a after killing another pokemon. Now you can, as Retaliate's base power sucks. Just attack this thing fast with an electric type attack and take it out. Then comes Lucario. It knows Extremespeed (normal), Dragon Pulse (dragon), Close Combat (fighting), and Aura Sphere (fighting). Lastly is her signature pokemon, Garchomp at level 77 compared to the regular 75. It knows Dragon Rush (dragon), Crunch (dark), Earthquake (ground), and Stone Edge (rock). This thing is a beast. The only way I beat it was with two Super Effective Dragon Claws from my ultra physical Haxorus when it missed with Dragon Rush twice. If it don't miss, you don't win. Simple as that. Prepare to lose or use all your revives. When you beat her, you deserve a congratulations. Also, you can only rematch her once a day during Spring, but the first battle can be done at any time. When you finish the rest of the post game, it's time to take on the Elite Four a second time. I will only note the changes that they have. (By the way, none of the Pokemon have held Items.) Their level 48 Pokemon are now level 71, their level 50 is now level 73, and they have two new non-Unova Pokemon also at level 71, except for Caitlin and Marshal. Caitlin has her level 50 now a 71 and one of her non-Unovas is level 73. Marshal Switches his higher leveled Pokemon from Mienshao to Conkeldurr. Shauntal starts with Cofagrigus, and adds Frosslass and Drifblim. Grimsley starts with his new Sharpedo and also adds Drapion. Caitlin starts with Musharna, and has added Bronzong and Metagross, a level 73 Pokemon. Marshal starts with his new Breloom and has a Toxicroak. Beat all four and it's time to take on Alder. He uses all Unova Pokemon, with 5 level 75s and a level 77 Volcarona. He starts off with the Bug type Accelgor. It knows Focus Blast (fighting), Bug Buzz (bug), Me First (normal, but it copies your move), and Energy Ball (grass). Next is Bouffalant with Head Charge (normal), Mega Horn (bug), Earthquake (ground), and Stone Edge (rock). Third up is Druddigon with Outrage (dragon), Super Power (rock I think), Night Slash (dark), and Payback (dark). Fourth is Vanilluxe packing Blizzard (ice), Flash Cannon (electric), Light Screen (normal), and Acid Armor (not sure, probably bug or something). Next up is the opposite of Accelgor, Escavalier, with X-Scissor (bug), Iron Head (steel), Ariel Ace (flying), and Giga Impact (normal). Finally is his crown jewel, a level 77 Volcarona, one of the only 3 seen in the game. It knows Overheat (fire), Quiver Dance (bug I think), Bug Buzz (bug), and the finale move, Hyper Beam (normal). Couldn't have a Champion without it, could ya. Anyway, that's it! Congratulations! You beat the game! - Gengar